Start Learning to Trade Commodities, Find a Commodity Futures Course

By William Davies

Embarking on learning to trade commodities gives the eager future trader a new perspective of what is really possible in commodity trading. It may be a focus on one area such as cotton or orange juice or alternatively taking the broad spectrum of the commodity markets, whichever it is, you will increase your understanding hugely. Just think about the big crude oil trades that happen daily on the New York Mercantile Exchange and how energy security worries and supply shortages affect prices. Have you thought why platinum or nickel prices might fall, and why might cocoa prices shoot up very quickly?

If you want to achieve success in these markets, you first need to find a very good commodities trading provider. So how will you go about learning to trade commodities? What are the key knowledge areas of trading if you want to move ahead in commodity markets? Look out for locations where commodity trading training courses are available. It is more than likely you will have a choice to either attend lessons at your chosen location or study from home using an online training program .

What do you gain from going to a commodity training centre? You will benefit from physical contact with the tutors and there may be one to one coaching opportunities. What is likely is that lecturers will have real world knowledge of trading as they may be former or still active commodity traders, and this can be a valuable skill which you could benefit from. There is also the advantage of being able to share ideas with colleagues in your classroom and network afterwards.

One key advantage of attending a training centre is watching your coaches carry out a "live" trade, and giving you a commentary on the price action. You may find this "live" way of learning a trading technique preferable to a more passive approach. There is a certain edge to your commodity trading learning experience, and you may find the tutors helping you outline a personalised trading plan. With the growth of international financial centres in London, Dubai, Toronto and Singapore, or Washington, Chicago, Irvine, Philadelphia and New York in the US, you can probably find a training centre near to where you live.

So in contrast what can be said for commodity trading courses delivered online? It may be that you are not close enough to a training centre or other responsibilities mean you cannot find the time. An online package which covers the essential technical and fundamental analysis components of commodity trading can fit into your busy schedule.

These online commodity trading courses will have offer e mail contact with your tutors, as well as video tutorials, using charts, blogs and forums. You will also most likely have access to special software packages allowing you to practice trades and use different trading techniques, as well as CDs and DVDs covering the key learning points.

So you are about to start learning to trade commodities. What will be covered? Broadly speaking, courses focus on fundamental analysis, that is supply and demand for commodities and how these are affected by inflation and in the case of crops, weather patterns. Traders also use technical analysis to compliment the former approach. This includes looking at commodity charts for price action, using techniques like Fibonacci numbers, Japanese candlesticks, moving averages, volume and support and resistance lines.

The course is likely to show you what a commodity futures contract is and how easy it is to trade electronically, how you place your futures order and set your commodity futures margin, as well as understand how hedging in commodity trading works. The whole area of risk management and preservation of capital is also an important aspect of learning, as is the psychology of trading and having a commodity trading plan. All these basic areas will be covered when you start learning to trade commodities. - 23223

About the Author:

The author, William Davies, pens articles for a blog on Commodities Trading, providing an educational resource for those wanting to learn more about markets. Find out how you could start learning to trade commodities here.